Narrowing mechanism for knitting machines



Dec. 29, 1936. v s IMQN v 2,065,858

NARROWING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5Sheets-Sheet? f" H INVENTOR'.

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AT? VEV Dec. 29,1936. r M I 2,065,858

NARROWING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING -MACHINES 7 Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5Sheets-Sh'et 3 INVENTOR. 1%

A TTORNEY Dec. 29, 1936. s. IMON I NARROWING MECHANISM FOR-KNITTINGMACHINES Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTOR. a. fl nru/ BY vA TTORNEY s. lMON 2,065,858 MRROWING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINESDec. 29, 1936.

Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORQ 4/4",

A TTORNEY Patented Deci 29, 1936 HJNES Sadami Imon, Komeno-cho, Nata-kn,

N a, J pan Application December 17,1934, Serial No. 757,950 In JapanDecember 28, 1933 2 Claims.

. This invention relates to a mechanism for automatically eifectingsc-called decreasing of the loops of thread in flat or Lambtype'knitting machines having two needle beds or rows of needles slopingat an angle of nearly 90. The object of the invention is to provide aknitting machine of such type in which the decreasing of the loops ofthread can be automatically and accurately effected in a simple manner.

In the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment of the invention isshown by way of example:- I

Figure 1 is a front view of the machine according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is'an enlarged front view in detail;

Fig. 3a is a sectional view showing the manner of slidably mountingracks for actuating knitting needles;

Figure 4 shows in section a part of a double shaft shown in Figure 3; aFigure 5 is an enlarged side view in detail; Figure 5a is an enlargedview of a detail;'

Figure 6 is a detail showing'one of the cam a controlled reciprocatingrods;

Figure 7 is a detail showing the device for actuating transfer needles;

Fig. 7a is a section taken on line Ia-Ta. of'

. Fig. 7; 30' Figure -8 is a view diagrammatically showing the relationbetween the transfer needle and the V knitting needle;

. ,Figure 9, is an enlarged view showing the top of Figure 8;. v Figure10 is, a section taken along line X-Y -ofFig.9; v Figure 11 is a detailof a transfer needle; Figure 12 is a detail showing a device foractuating a screw-threaded shaft; I

Figure 13 is a rear elevatiorrthereof; Figures 14 "and 15 are front andside views showing the coupling mounted on the cam shaft;

Figures 16 and 17 are details showing a latch- 0 ing bolt and actuatingblock therefor used 'in said coupling; v

Figures 18 to 22 showthe shape of various cams controlling the motion ofthe. device according to this invention; 1

Figure 23 is a diagram showing in orrder the operation of said cams.

showing the under side Referring to the drawings, mounted upon the frameI is a main shaft 2, to which is operatively connected a. shaft 3through an intermediate ss'driving shaft 3'. To said shaft 3 are iixed acrank 4, an eccentric disc 5, and a sprocket wheel 6. ,Through anintermediate lever I and links 8 and 9, the end of the crank l isoperatively connected to a main rocking lever H). An eccentric strap rodll carries at its free end a pawl 12. Provided at the top of theright-hand side (Fig. 1) of the machine is a pattern mechanismcomprising a roller 13 and a pattern'belt l5 surrounding said roller andcarrying a plurality of feelers 14 arranged at desired intervals. Arotary weight It is provided for thepurpose of maintaining the patternbelt I5 in tension. On one side of the roller I3 is mounted a ratchetwheel (not shown) adapted to be rotated intermittently by means of thepawl I2 in accordance with the movement of the rod II. To the upper endof a bracket I1 is pivoted a lever l8 which is adapted to be engaged andlifted by the feelers M. The free end of the lever I8 is connected by.means of a link is to a reciprocating rod 2|, the latter carrying at itslower end an arc-shaped actuating block 20. (Figs. 14 and 16.) obliquelycut at both ends as shown in Figure 16, and is inserted in an annulargroove 24-formed in the coupling disc 23 which is fixed on' the rotatingshaft 22. The disc 23 is formed with a bore 24', and in said bore isinserted a latching bolt 25 provided with a recess 25' as shown inFigures 15 and 17. At the outer end, the bolt 25 is pressed inwardly bya spring 26 and the inner end thereof projects into a hole 21'formed'in-a sprocket wheel 21 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 22..Said sprocket wheel 21 is driven from the sprocket wheel 6 on the shaft3 by means of a driving chain 28. There is provided suitable means (notshown) influenced bythe rotation of the cam shaft 22 for stopping themotion of the main rocking lever l0 during the rotation of said shaft22. 1 7 V At the end of the rotating shaft 22 there are secured aplurality of cams A, 'B, C, E and D, with which respectively engagereciprocating rods A, B, C, E and the short arm D of a bell'crank lever3|, each by means of ,an antifrictionroller 29. In order to ensure goodengagement, each reciprocating rod is pulled downwardly by means of aspring 30 as shownin Figure 6, and the lever 3| is provided with anextension 3| which is pulled leftwardly (in Figure 1) by a spring 32.

Mounted on the top of the frame are rails 33 (Figs; 1 and 5), on each ofwhich is mounted a carriage 35 for actuating needles and.

also-a base 35 supporting a transfer needle mech anism, The carriage 35is operatively connectedthrough a link to the upper end of the main ornarrowing has been done.

rocking lever I I in usual manner. The base II is operatively connectedthrough a link I1 to the free end of the bell crank lever II. On thebase II is secured a guide block II, having a guide way (Figs. 3, 5, and7) with which engages a slide 39. The upper surface of said slide 38 isformed with a rack 39'. Secured at right angles to the slide I8 is aguide rail II. A reciprocator II engages with said guide rail II, and itis normally pulled downwardly and rearwardly by means of springs 42 andII. To one side of the guide block 38 is secured a guide plate II whichengages with a pin II secured on one side of the reciprocator II. Saidguide plate 44 is so shaped that, when the slide 39 is retracted withthe rail II and the reciprocator II, the latter is moved upwardly alongthe rail 40, the pin II on the reciprocator ascending along the frontinclined edge of the guide plate II. At the front of the lower end ofthe reciprocator II there are secured a plurality of transfer needlesII, and rearwardly thereof a brush I1 is secured. In Figure 7a fourtransfer needles I are shown, so that decreasing of loops is effected onfour needles. This is for the purpose of producing a neat appearance ofthe edge-of the knitted article on which decreasing Provided also on thebase It is a' bearing II (Figure 3), in which is lournaled a shaft IIhaving a fixed gear II at its one end. Said gear 48 meshes with anintermediate gear II which in turn meshes'with the rack II. The otherend of the shaft II is journaled in bearings I2 and II,-and between saidbearings is a gear II which is slidable but nonrotatable relative to theshaft II. For this purpose, the shaft II is splined as at II, and thegear II is mounted thereon by means of a key II. The gear II meshes witha rack I'l formed on the reciprocating rod C associated with the earn 0.

Near the top of the frame I, a screw-threaded shaft II is rotatablymounted, which shaft having a fixed ratchet wheel II at its one end(Figs. 3, 5, 12, and 13). Loosely. mounted on said shaft II adjacentsaid ratchet wheei'is' a gear I2 having an arm II which carriesa pivotedpawl II. The gear I! meshes with a toothed rack II on the reciprocatingrod E associated with the cam E. The pawl II is normally maintained inengagement with the ratchet wheel II by means of aspring II connected tothe gear I2.

II is a needle bed adapted to traverse to and fro according to therotation of the screw-threaded shaft II, and it is provided with aplurality of recesses II through which knitting needles Y project.Beneath said needle bed II is a double shaft consisting of an innershaft I1 and an outer hollow shaft II. (Figs. 3. 4, and 5.) At the endsof the inner shaft II are mounted gears II and II, and at the ends ofthe outer shaft II are mountedgearsll and". 'Ihegears-II and IIrespectively mesh with toothed racks II and II formed on the upper endsof the reciprocating rodsA'andB'respecttvelyassociatedwiththe camsAandB.ThegearIIontheotherendof theinnershaftI'lmesheswithatoothedrack IIhaving a butt II at its rear end and adaptedtoadvancetheknittingneedlesll.Forthepurpose,thebuttII'oftherackIIengageswiththe rearfaces ofthe buttsof theneedles II. The gearIIonthesameendoftheoutershaftII mesheswithatoothed rack II havingabutt II atits rear end andadaptedtoretracttheknittingneedlesII. SaidracksIIandIIareslidablymountedinslotsformedinablocksecuredtoa ber of loops of thread.

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fixed part of the frame as best shownin mgure 3a.

As shown in Figure 5, there are two needle beds II and both areoperatively connected to the shaft 58, and both are equally providedwith knitting and transfer needles andactuating means therefor ashereinbefore described. Al-

though the cams and reciprocating rods actuated thereby are shown. onlyfor the left hand needle beg II in Figure 5 for ,the sake of clearne'ss,it i o be understood that actually another set of quite similar cams andreciprocating rods is provided also for the right hand needle bed, sothat decreasing of loops is effected on both needle beds. For thepurpose, the butt II of the rack II engages with the front faces of thebutts of the needles 34; As shown in Figure 3, the racks II and II arehorizontally spaced but the butts II and 16' thereof are brought intosame vertical plane, as shown in Fig. 50, so that the butts II and IIalternately act upon the same needles, one pushing the needles forwardlyand the other pushing the needles-'rearwardly. As shown in Fig.5a,theracks'I Iand'IIaredesignedto operate four needles at a time. Theoperation of this invention is as follows:- The main shaft 2 drives theshaft} and, as the latter rotates, the main rocking lever II is actuatedthrough the links I and I and-it gives reciprocating sliding movementstothe carriage II. whereby operating the knitting needles as in theusual manner. At the same time, the pawl II which is associated with theeccentric disc I intermittently rotates the roller II with the pattembelt II, and a feeler II thereon engages with the projection on thelever II and lifts the latter, whereby the link II and the reciprocatingrod 2| carrying the actuating block II are lifted. whereupon, thelatching bolt II under the influence of thespring II is pressed inwardlyand engages with the hole 21' in the sprocket wheel 21, whereby thelatter is operatively connected to the shaft through the coupling discII, and the shaft flisrotated. Whenthelatchlng bolt 2I again comes tothe uppermost position after having completed one revolution, it isdisengaged from the sprocket wheel 21 by the action of the actuatingblock 1|. which has already returned into the groove 24, the lever IIhaving returned to the normal lowered position, where-,. by the couplingdisc II is-disengaged from the sprocket wheel 21, and its rotationceases. Thus, it will be seen that the cam shaft It performs only onerotation ata time, and during such rotation the various earns thereonautomatically control the mechanism for decreasing the num- The cam Dcontrols. through the lever II and the link 31, the movement of the baseII' carrying the needle transfer mechanism.

The cams A and B respectively control the rotation of the inner andouter shafts I1 and II for projecting and retracting the knittingneedles II.

Thecamccontrolstherotationoftheshaftllforactuatingtheslidellthroughthegears II and II, thereby controlling themovement of they transfer needles II. a

The cam controls the rotation of the gear I2 for rotating thescrew-threaded shaft II, thereby shifting the needle beds II foroneneedle interval.

. The so-called decreasing operation accordingtothisinventionisaccomplishedbythemechau nism actuated by the combinedcontrol of said various cams in the following manner;

Refer mainly to Figure 23. As the cam shaft 22 rotates, the base 36moves from the predeter mined rest position to the position at which"decreasing should be effected. (The cam D, from point a to point 1).)By this time, the cam A has already acted upon the rack I5, and thatknitting needle which is to be decreased or eliminated is lifted forsome" extent. At the point e (in Fig. 23), the needle 34 is advanced tothe position P shown in Figure 7. At this moment, the-spoon-like latch34' turns back. (But, the transfer needle 46 is yet in a rear and upperposition.) Such movement of the knitting needle is effected by themovement of the cam A, point 0. Next, the transfer needle carried by thereciprocator 4| advances along the guide plate 44, and the tip of thetransfer needle 46 comes beneath the turned latch 34' as just shown inFigure 7. This is'effected by the cam 0 moved to point 0'. Next, theknitting needle 34 and the latch 34', together with the transfer needle46, further advance to the position as shown in Figure 9 (point d inFig-23). The loop of thread is disengaged from the latch 34' and isengaged by the transfer needle. This is effected by the cams A and C,point d. The knitting needle is further advanced so as to have the loopentirely disengaged from thelatch 34 as shown in position Q in Figure 8.This is effected by the cam A, point e. Next, the knitting needle isretracted to the position R in Figure 8. This is efiected by the cam B,point i. The toothed rack I5 starts to be lowered. This is effected bythe cam A. Whenthe toothed rack 15 is brought near the upper restposition by the cam B, the needle bed isshifted transversely for oneneedle interval. This is eflected by the cam E, from point g to point11.. Consequently, one knitting needle is eliminated, and the needlecarrying the nextloop is advanced. In the position R in Figure 8, thelatch 34 isclosed, but

upon the advance movement of the needle the latch 34' is opened by theaction of the brush 41 (Fig. 7) and it receives the loop from thetransfer needle. This is effected by the cam A, from point i to point7'. The transfer needle 46 is then retracted leaving the loop upon theknitting needle which has just advanced. This is eifected by the cam C,from point It to point I. Then, the toothed rack 15 is lowered orretracted to the rest position. This is effected by the cam A, frompoint 121. to pointn. Thus, the so-called decreasing operation iseffected automatically. After finishing said operation, the base" 36 isreturned to the above-mentioned rest position. This is effected by thecam D, from point n to point a.

The time at which the above-mentioned de- I creasing" operation iseffected is determined by the pattern belt 15, and by suitably designingthis invention is designed for use in knitting tubular fabric, it can beused also for knitting thicker plain fabric, knitting on both needlebanks simultaneously, as is usual in existing flat type knittingmachines.

What I claim is:-

1. A mechanism for automatically decreasing the number of loops in flattype knitting machines comprising a cam shaft, a cam on said shaftcon--. trolling the advancing movement of the knitting needles, a secondcam on said shaft controlling the retractive movement' of said knittingneedles, a third cam on said shaft controlling a transfer needle, atransfer needle mechanism, a' base supporting said mechanism, a fourthcam on said shaft controlling the shift of said base, a needle bed, afifth cam on said shaft controlling said needle bed, a coupling uponsaid shaft, means including a pattern for actuating said coupling so asto rotate said shaft 2. single revolution, a reciprocator carrying saidtransfer needle controlled by said third cam so as to impart thereto amovement parallel relative to the base and at right angles to themovement of the knitting needle, said cams being so constructed-thatupon rotation said base is first shifted by said fourth cam from thepredetermined rest position to a position at which decreasing should beeffected, then the tip of the transfer needle is brought below the latchof the knitting needle by the third cam, then said transfer needle andkitting needle are advanced together under the influ-- ence of the firstand third cams, then said knitting needle only is retracted under theinfluence of the second cam, transferring the loop from said knittingneedle to said transfer needle, then the knitting needle is shiftedtransversely relative to the transfer needle under the influence of thefifth cam, then next the knitting needle is advanced under the influenceof the first cam to the position of the loop that has been justtransferred, then the transfer needle is retracted under the influenceof the third cam, thereby transferring the loop to the knitting needlejust advanced, and then the base is returned to the first mentioned restposition under the influence of the fourth cam.

2. A mechanism for automatically decreasingthe number of lops in flattype knitting machines ed to said shaft but upon completion of onerotation of said shaft saidlatching bolt is disengaged from'saidsprocket .wheel provided said block has been lowered whereby the drivingconnection is disengaged.

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